Summer holidays should be longer

[noblegiraffe]

Our kids have the shortest summer holidays in Europe, Italy have 13 weeks, even Ireland has 9.

They're under pressure so much at school they need more time to just be kids. Classrooms are so hot in the last few weeks of term that it's impossible to learn effectively anyway.

I think we should add at least an extra two weeks to the summer holidays, so break up near the start of July. This would bring us more into line with private schools too.

And with longer holidays it might help recruit and retain teachers, and reduce competition for summer annual leave slots for working parents. It could even reduce the cost of holidays as 'peak season' would be longer.

I really enjoyed school.

My kids do too.

In your opinion

Same. I enjoyed school too as do my children.

Some forget that many children actually like going to school.

I saw my friends way more often than I did in the summer. It was easier to meet up during the school year. Since few of my friends had sahp, they spent their summers away somewhere else either at a holiday camp or another relatives home. I hated summer camp and wanted summer school instead.

In some of those countries it would be unbearably hot to send children to school over the summer so longer holidays make sense. In the UK, in particular Scotland, it might benefit children to have an extra week in autumn and winter so they can get some daylight and have a break from winter illnesses.

Exactly! Lots of kids like school. And it’s not that hard - they’re not worked like dogs.

It’s five weeks where I am

There’s a report just published on the impact of summer in improving mood. For women there is an inverse relationship with the length of school summer holidays (but not for men).

We are three weeks in. I am exhausted, I am running put of money and things to do. There is play dough mashed into my carpet.
I actually can't bleeive there is still 4 weeks to go. We're not even half way through. And I really don't know how I am going to fill these whole four weeks with fun and engaging things to do. The pressure on my wallet and my mental and physical energy is immense as is the guilt that we're not doing enough, they summer wasn't magical or memorable enough. All this and I am still trying to earn a living, work doesn't stop, and my wages don't go up just because the kids are off and therefore cost more. It's just a huge amount of pressure, and as soon as they go back, I get a 5 minutes breather and then I have to start thinking about Christmas.
Basically the whole second half of the year is nothing but pressure for me and I breathe a huge sigh of relief in January when I have a whole 7 months or so before I start to feel the pressure and financial strain once more.

Those who want to be sanctimonious and bleat about how we should all be loving every moment with our kids can frankly piss off. I adore my kids, I love being with them. But I wish we could have spontaneous fun and special moments instead of it all being crammed into specific times when you are expected to make things happen because it's the summer, or it's Christmas.
Sadly that's how society is set up so that's what we do.

None of the things you mention being harder are really for schools to make easier for YOU at all, never mind all year round.

Your kids going to school does mean that the playdough is mashed into the classroom carpet and the teacher is the one exhausted getting it out on top of educating the whole class to the required standard, but I suppose you think that's just a job - contrary to your knowing the pressure and commitment individual children take on top of everything else that just needs doing.

Nobody thinks you have to love every minute of working and having a family, but since holidays are already the much smaller percentage of time and school the massive majority, these few weeks are only time they really can focus on family.

But I didn't say that the solution to this is shorter Holidays and more work and responsibility for teachers. That's an assumption that YOU made.
I would rather a complete overhaul of our entire societal structure actually.